BruceVC

I don't think Bester is trolling, I genuinely think he is trying to make a point buts its a deeply spurious point and makes no sense to me. I think sometimes these types of discussions are really used in an attempt to highlight something else, in this case its how stupid Romance is and how stupid people who like Romance sound, but who knows with Bester? Anyway I want to ask something else more interesting. Is it really racist if you say "I don't date outside my racial group"? For me if a person says that because they claim they don't find people of different races attractive that would be a lie and racist IMO. Beauty is beauty and this is not defined by race But in South Africa I have heard several people both black and white on the radio or other mediums say things like " I don't mind other people doing it but I don't date outside my racial group". The common reason they say they won't date across the racial line is because of the cultural differences. In fact in South Africa certain people won't even date outside there religious group. So would this make them racist ? I have dated across the racial line but I have friends who won't, so my question is "is it racist to if you say you won't date outside your group"

That's an impressive analysis of the DA series for someone who doesn't like it, I shudder to think how much you know about games that you actually like. You are clearly a masochist to put yourself through so much intentional anguish

I thought you didn't like Romance options in RPG? Why the outrage?

I don't see it like that at all, I see a successful company that is mature enough and appreciative enough of its fans that when they realize they made a mistake they apologize and rectify it. What more do you expect Monte? Hubris is never an admirable quality in software companies, well done GOG for showing humility

This is a tough one, my predictions Switz vs Argentina 1-1 ( penalty shootouts with Argentina winning) USA vs Belgium 2-1 Exciting games either way

I''m not familiar with this case but what does it mean when you say religious freedom? Are you saying the mandatory medical aid the company provides won't pay for abortions if there is a health risk or is this something else. Also what type of contraceptions are you talking about that they won't pay for? In South Africa every employee has to have medical aid but the debate is how much the company contributes. This varies from company to company. And obviously there are medical aid companies that are better than others but you have to go with the medical aid company the business uses unless you are on someone else's medical aid, like your wife or husband

Turn based? Nah, I don't mind TB. I just wasn't "getting it" in the first battle. It took me a few seconds to realize that each party member can perform multiple actions per turn until they run out of action points. Just n00b error is all. Also, is there any way to memorize the scrolls you find? I only saw; use, drop, destroy. Gfted1 are you sure you were playing the English version of the game? I can imagine if you were playing, for example, the Flemish version it would have been confusing on a number of levels .....

Uh.... you understand it is impossible for them to break even right? They didn't fund the game, it was done through donations. Even if it flops and only sells 5 copies they still lost nothing. All they need is one copy to sell post release and they have made profit. Also... it is going to sell plenty of copies. No my friend the reality is that Obsidian really does need to generate revenue through new sales of PoE because end of the day they are a business that needs show a healthy net profit in order to be viable. No one goes into a private business with the intention of just breaking even. I'll keep it simple but lets say for example that Obsidian generates $ 100,000 from sales of PoE. This is not pure profit ( net profit ). From this they need to deduct indirect and direct costs. So from this you will deduct the following ( and this list is not comprehensive) Rent of business building Water and electricity All office costs like telephone and admin staff Advertising and Marketing Travel expenses Hardware and Software maintenance cost Overtime Taxes Then you need to incentivise the staff apart from there salaries, do they get bonuses based on percentage of sales? Do they get a fixed lump sum or a 13th check? And all this will come off the sales revenue I imagine the KS pledges are used to pay the salaries of staff members for the 2 years that the game takes to make because remember those developers don't generate revenue while they are working on the game but they still need to get paid there salaries or contracting fees. Of course none of us can say with complete certainty what the running costs of Obsidian are but one thing I can guarantee you is they have to generate decent sales figures or what would be the point of being in business or producing anymore PoE ?

How dare you !!! The promancer has moved away from documents, we now use tattoos to permanently mark our loyal followers. We are after all an evolving movement

No you absolutely can't and I don't think anyone is suggesting that. I'm in the same boat with W2, I didn't back the game but I will be buying the final released product

Welcome My view is that in life some things are unforgivable like....like.. avoiding paying taxes or forgetting your partners b-day, but pledging to support PoE? That's a good thing and most people will understand it PS : Always support discussions for Romance in the sequel to PoE because sadly there won't be Romance in this one

Wow, that really must have put the SK team in a sticky situation ....

Yeah, I'm going to be cautiously optimistic and say a year after release I also expect 1000k sales ( 1 million). I am basing this on your sales numbers for Legends of Grimrock which really is a niche game in the fantasy genre Of course this is very dependent on PoE being a good game and receiving favourable reviews from the prominent gaming websites

Has the mandatory "This game is misogynistic" review popped its head yet? Games are not considered misogynistic just because its a popular theme at the moment or because there is some sort of SJ conspiracy by gaming journalists. Why do think the game should be rated as misogynistic? Are there valid reasons for it, I can't see why anyone would suggest that considering the fact its a sniping game where you kill men and women Bruce, thanks to "whatever wave this is, feminism" and in particular to Anita; games as misogynistic is a foregone conclusion. Because that was the central argument of Tropes vs Women, which was not a documentary but a campaign. A documentary might have a theme but it ultimately sticks to what it can prove, just like science might have theories but they ultimately have to be backed by facts. A campaign promotes an idea, it fights for it and supports it, they don't stop because facts prove them wrong. I'm afraid that Anita is less of a scientist and more of a politician and since it was her videos which cemented the incursion of feminism into gaming, and now the majority of gaming media seems to support it with the same zeal she is my example as to why the whole argument is boogers. You can infer intent from an artist's statement but saying that the Mona Lisa is a LGTB friendly painting because it was DaVinci in drag is not only a stretch, but it politicizes the painting. In my mind politics are the dirtiest of human inventions, when you bring them into art (which is about beauty) you're soiling that beauty. If games are art then all that feminism has accomplished is to dirty them. The fact is that a game needs not be really misogynistic it only needs to be that way in order to suit the reviewer's agenda of promoting equality and it helps if its not a major release from one of the publishers who own the gaming press. They get to keep their feminist cred and don't lose their position because they gave a bad review. Okay I see what you saying. I know we have discussed this before but I don't think Anita represents the Feminist movement in its entirety. Her movement is influential and vociferous but not all feminists agree with her on all topics, for example I'm a feminist but I don't agree with some her campaigns That same view would apply to gaming websites and gaming journalists. For example if you take RPS which I consider a good benchmark for raising valid concerns around SJ issues, I know most of you guys don't , they have a review on this game and there is absolutely no mention of misogyny at all http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/06/30/sniper-elite-3-review/#more-216823 So I wouldn't worry too much about this game being painted with the misogyny brush by any serious gaming reviewers

This is a valid concern and hopefully unfounded If PoE only attracts the KS fans and other people who have basically already bought the game through other pledging systems then you are right. It would be a financial disaster for Obsidian because there profit would be almost nothing and the whole IP around this new fantasy world would die an early and unfortunate death Buts that's highly unlikely as mentioned by others. The Obsidian marketing engine is alive and well and there is loads of awareness around PoE. So the real revenue generation will come from new purchases of the game when its released. Despite the fact its a "niche " game many people who love fantasy RPG will buy this game. I am confident about the sustained future of PoE But lets be clear, despite what some people think of course Obsidian wants to make decent revenue on new sales. This is in fact mandatory. Why wouldn't any company not want to do that?

Has the mandatory "This game is misogynistic" review popped its head yet? Games are not considered misogynistic just because its a popular theme at the moment or because there is some sort of SJ conspiracy by gaming journalists. Why do think the game should be rated as misogynistic? Are there valid reasons for it, I can't see why anyone would suggest that considering the fact its a sniping game where you kill men and women

Why do you say that? Is like your avatar might turn awfully prophetic. Falling Down is one of my best movies of all time. I have seen it about 5-6 times. Every scene is brilliant, like the part in the burger take-way ... "can anyone tell me what is wrong with this burger"... and that kid puts his hand up ..

I'm sure you say things like that just to annoy me, its like when people think I'm Trolling when I'm trying to be serious. And guess what, it is one of the few things that does annoy me But explain to me what would be the purpose of this act, what's the endgame? Why people with issues do things is something I've never bothered with uncovering, to be honest. Why you do this is your own business. But really that is an act, the Ukraine thread showed decent examples to me of otherwise. Hah, I missed this backhand Nicely couched too. That's what I thought, you can't give me a logical and relevant answer to why my posting style is an act. And I don't fault you for this because its not true And the Ukrainian thread is a terrible justification for me being an act, considering all the dozens of other discussions I have participated in. I would argue my perspective is more or less consistent, yes I am wrong sometimes but I generally don't flip-flop on issues like social justice

I'm sure you say things like that just to annoy me, its like when people think I'm Trolling when I'm trying to be serious. And guess what, it is one of the few things that does annoy me But explain to me what would be the purpose of this act, what's the endgame?

And that by far is one of the most insightful posts I've heard, well played I know certain people will automatically dismiss this article just because I posted it. But that's fine, I would rather debate with people who want to debate and to add constructive comments to these types of issues ( and I don't mean people have to agree with me ) Remember TN you don't raise SJ issues to be popular, its actually the opposite. Because most people don't like to be reminded of the ubiquitous inequality that's exists around us but generally doesn't effect them. But I don't care about popular opinion when it comes to my principles, I raise certain issues because I feel its the right thing to do But saying all that I acknowledge that article isn't excellent, its interesting but I can see where it fails to deliver the message Trust me, I know. I've raised a fair amount of ruckus about the particular subject of how women are treated in the game industry myself - and I've also learned that my perspective was also skewed in some ways because people here actually responded to the contents of the things I posted rather than just attack me personally. An article I posted by game designer Ernest Adams about how "we" are responsible for how women are treated comes to mind, which I came to realize through that discussion was the finest example of white knighting on the planet, guy may as well have been wearing a sign that said "come hither weak women, for I shallt protect thou" and I was wrong to defend him even if he raised some good points. One of the reasons I like this board is because it challenges me, a lot of people here are smarter than I am and it keeps me on my toes. Which is part of the reason why I think it's unfair that what you post is automatically being dismissed. The article you posted is poorly written but it has some meat to it and I'm glad some posters are actually talking about it because different perspective means everyone stands to learn something, even if it's just about other posters. The posters that came in only to dismiss you might as well be wearing their own signs: "Look how edgy I am". Dismissing someone by taking the time to write a post about it for everyone to see isn't really dismissing someone anyway, it's just asking for attention. Trolling at it's finest. On another note, I find it interesting most women you know don't care. For me, I took an interest in the subject in the first place was because I've seen it first hand from the perspective of most of the women in my life and I've heard them complain about it regularely. I'm lucky in that I know a *lot* of female gamers. From my best friends, my girlfriend, my colleagues and even my mother. Most people here don't seem to have that luxury. Not a judgement, not saying people here don't know women or "can't get a girl" or whatnot, I just know a lot of women gamers and this issue is a much more active part of my life than most others - and if they were here, they could fight their own battles and I wouldn't have to bring it up. It makes me concerned that you may be white knighting, like my aforementioned example, which would be a big disappointment to me personally because I happen to enjoy your positive outlook. It's a nice contrast to all the snark. Good post TN, some valid insights there I am definitely not white-knighting, some people just use this as way to dismiss a valid argument Also I think it should be painfully clear to everyone that there are almost no active lady members who generally contribute towards these types of discussions. So I'm not sure who I would be white-knighting to

Okay interesting...I'm worried now. I want Germany to get through but France is looking very impressive

Yeah I was thinking the same thing. Absolutely, they've been very impressive. However, assuming Germany wins later today as expected, that QF match is going to be a big time heavyweight bout. You've raised a good point, if Germany wins does that mean they will have to play France in the QF?

In honour of the well deserved French victory I am going to eat some Roquefort cheese tonight, its the least I can do considering the circumstances

I can't believe how well France is playing compared to the last world cup, do you guys they they are serious contenders for the semi-finals ?

In general, I agree, but on the scoring play, in particular, he made a piss poor attempt at a clearance. In general, I agree, but on the scoring play, in particular, he made a piss poor attempt at a clearance. Actually the Nigerian defense as a whole has been porous all game. Some nice saves though. I agree my adulation is for the goalkeeper only, I genuinely believe France deserves to win